Our journey across the Continent was unmarked by any untoward incident.

Accommodation was good on board the train and the messing arrangements were
excellent. Two trains, the first being under the command of Major Worsnop and
the second under that of the Colonel.

Two stops a day were made of sufficient duration to enable the men to get
exercise by parading through the main streets of some town and it was not until
we reached Ottawa that any event occurred to break the usual monotony of a long
train journey. At the Capital the battalion was reviewed by H.R.H. the Duke of
Connaught, then Governor-General of Canada, accompanying whom was General Sir
Sam Hughes, then Minister of Militia. On the same day the journey was resumed
and on Sunday afternoon, June 18th, we reached Halifax and embarked on the
C.P.R. S.S. "Empress of Britain," which pulled out into the fairway on the same
evening, but did not leave Halifax until the morning of June 20th, when, with
H.M.S. "Drake" as escort, she started off upon her submarine infested course.

Of that voyage the less said the better, but common decency demands that some
criticism be offered on the accommodation afforded the troops. In addition to
the 102nd Bn. the steamer carried the 65th and 84th Bns., together with some
Medical Details and a draft for the Pioneers. It was freely stated that in the
Mediterranean the "Empress of Britain" had carried 6,000 troops; if that were
so, she must indeed have been a living hell. With only two-thirds that number on
board the conditions that prevailed were well-nigh intolerable, and this is
written after two and a half years in France and Belgium where the writer had
some experience Of hardship. The 102nd Bn. was the junior battalion and the last
aboard, but that should not account for the fact that there was literally not
sufficient accommodation for all below and that, if the weather had been bad, so
that men could not have slept on deck, there would have been no place for them
to sleep at all.

The food was atrocious. Apart from the fact that we had to eat in the bowels
of the ship where the atmosphere was stifling, every article of food cooked was
permeated with some disgusting preservative which caused all dishes to taste
alike, all being equally objectionable.

Fortunately the weather was gloriously fine and the sea as calm as a duck
pond throughout the voyage. Imagination fails at the conditions which would have
prevailed had sea sickness been prevalent instead of non existent. Just exactly
how many submarines were observed when nearing the Irish Coast no historian
could compute; probably each man saw three, but as the official records relate
that none were in evidence it is unlikely that we were ever in very great
danger, in spite of the numerous hair's breath escapes which were narrated after
disembarkation.

On the evening of June 28th Liverpool was reached but the steamer anchored
over-night in the Mersey and it was not until the following morning that the
troops disembarked and lined up on the wharf. A tedious period of waiting then
followed and it was afternoon before we boarded trains which conveyed us over
nearly every railway system in England to our destination, Bordon, where we
arrived at one o'clock on the morning of the 30th. It was pouring rain when we
fell in on the station platform, but we were lucky in our quarters, which were
in the married men's huts in Bordon and were both clean and comfortable.

The first days of our stay in England were anxious ones indeed; right and
left of us we saw battalions being broken up; both the 65th and the 84th Bns.
with whom we had come overseas suffered this fate on the very next day after
arrival, and we were the junior battalion in England at the time. What mercy
could we expect? Well, we did not get mercy, but we got justice, and when the
authorities found out that we were the tallest, the heaviest, and the most
maturely aged of any unit that had reached England, and when they saw for
themselves the physique of the men who composed the 102nd Bn. They just
naturally had no choice in the matter and within two or three days we received
the glad news that we were no longer under the special care of Broxted House,
that wet nurse of newly arrived units, but that we had brigaded and henceforth
were the junior battalion in the 11th Brigade, 4th Canadian Division, commanded
respectively by Brig.-General V.W.Odlum, D.S.O., and Major-General D. Watson,
C.M.G.. Our future was assured.

But there was a tremendous amount of work ahead of us in England, and but
little time to do it in. The Fourth Division was expected to proceed to France
very shortly and we had to do in six weeks what our sister battalions had taken
months to accomplish. Musketry, of course, was our first and most pressing need
and as soon as we had been issued with rifles many days were spent at Whitehill
in passing the various tests. Then there were long hours to be spent on bayonet
fighting and on musketry drill, but before the end of the month our musketry was
over and we left Bramshott to take up our place by the side of the three
battalions with whom we were to be associated for so many arduous months abroad,
the 54th (Kootenay) Bn.; the 75th (Toronto) Bn., and the 87th (Montreal) Bn..
The remaining days at Bramshott were spent mostly in continuous drill, the only
leave obtainable being two short week ends, one of which was cut shorter by the
desire of Sir Sam Hughes to inspect the 4th Division before his departure to
Canada. We surely did love our Minister of Militia when this news came through.

In connection with this review justice demands that a tragedy be related and
if at this late date exposure could cause the lopping off of a few official
heads there are many 102nd men now living who would indeed feel that "God's in
His heaven; all's right with the world."

We were on the eve of departure and orders were issued that all private
or Governmental property carried by the men which would not be taken overseas
was to be packed in the men's individual kit-bags; these kit-bags were to be
clearly marked with name and number and piled at a specific place. It was
clearly stated that these kit-bags would be stored under Government care and
that when on leave in after months men would be able to reclaim their kit-bags
and possessions. In pursuance of these orders kit-bags were packed and piled as
directed, and the battalion marched away to parade with the Division at the
grand review. During its absence a party of men acting under orders went through
the kit-bags and burnt or distributed to pedlars all the contents. Absolutely
unworn Stanfield's underwear, boots, spare socks and other wearing apparel were
either wantonly burnt or given away; that was a shameful waste of public money
and an economic outrage. In addition, the private property of the men was burnt,
bibles, keepsakes from relatives and all the variety of personal effects which
most men carry round with them, were consigned to the flames; that was a
damnable vandalism and an outrage on the feelings of God and man alike. Someone
must have blundered; the act was worse than criminal; it was foolish; but the
Army is past-master in the art of "passing the buck" and to this day the
responsibility for this wholesale destruction has never been disclosed
officially. Nothing could be done then, nor can anything be done now to
compensate the men for the sentimental losses they sustained; but it is never
too late for the Government to recover the monetary value of good under-clothing
wantonly destroyed.

Reference was made above to leave. The 102nd Bn. was unfortunate in its
King's leave. Whilst at Comox frequent weekend leave was granted to Vancouver,
Victoria and places near-by, but when our sudden departure was announced there
was no opportunity for men to get leave who lived far away. "Never mind," said
the Colonel; "my men are all British-born, and their relations are in England.
They'll get leave over there." One cannot blame the Colonel; we were all keen to
get away, and a demand for leave would have robbed us of the chance. But mark
well what happened. We reached England, in time to join the 4th Division, if we
could make the grade; but this would be impossible if each man was to have his
King's leave. They are Canadians and have already said good-bye to their kith
and kin." Again, one can't blame the Colonel; we all wanted to get across to
France, but he was scarcely logical, to say the least of it.

During the six weeks spent in England considerable change was made in the
personnel of the battalion. A rigorous medical inspection resulted in the
transfer of every man who was not in the pink of condition to a reserve unit;
thus we lost many who were not considered fit for the strenuous work of the
front line, though eminently capable of fulfilling essential duties which did
not call for physical perfection. The officers left behind when the battalion
proceeded to France were Major L. A. Hagar, Capt. J. H. Ross, Capt. J. Fall,
Lieut. G. B. Proctor and Capt. T. C. Colwell. At Bramshott also we lost the
majority of our Bugle Band, which was for the most part composed of boys under
age who were later returned to Canada, only to come out again when Time had made
them eligible. Many boys, however, who nobly "got away" with their age,
accompanied the unit across the Channel and proved invaluable as Runners. To
fill up the deficiencies in our numbers we received the following reinforcements
while at Bramshott: Capt. J. G. Spencer and 27 O.R. from the 71st Bn.; Capt. W.
J. Loudon, Capt. R. W. Nicholls, Capt. A. C. Trousdale and 112 O.R. from the
74th Bn.; Capt. E. J. Gook; Lieuts. C. C. Tunnard, R. Fitzmaurice, L. J.
Bettison, C. T. Rush and T. E.Dent from the 11th C.M.R., and Lieuts. W. S.
Barton and W. Bell from the 103rd Bn. Capts. A. T. Johnston, J. S. Matthews and,
H. E. Homer Dixon received promotion in England and the first named took over
No. I Co. in place of Capt. Fall, Major Homer Dixon assuming command of No. 2
Co. Lieut. J. H. Grant was appointed Assistant Adjutant in place of Lieut. R. A.
Stalker who had succeeded Lieut. J. E. Bailey. Capt. I. J. E. Daniel proceeded
with the battalion as Chaplain (R:C.) in place of Capt. Colwell.

The last few days passed quickly, and finally, on a sweltering hot day,
August 11th, 1916, the 102nd Bn. marched from Bramshott to Liphook, where it
entrained for Southampton. Arrived there we boarded the small cross-channel
transport "Connaught" and awoke on the morning of the l2th to find ourselves in
the harbour of Le Havre. Just five months from mobilization in Comox and we were
standing on the threshold of our ambitions. How those ambitions were fulfilled
the succeeding chapters will relate.